Heroes in Asylum

A City Finds its Heroes

Women Scorned: Dark Victory

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While Velocity races to get his family out of the collapsing clock tower, Corsair, Eaglesmith, and Bombzone combine there attacks and finally against Xanthus. They knock her back behind a collapsing support beam. Her spell breaks and the clock tower collapses. Corsair and the heroes attempt to dig up the other statuette that Xanthus used in her ritual. They are interrupted by Team Majestic who commandeer the crime scene. Corsairs cows Infinity Drive, attempting to keep access to the site. Power Princess, however, turns the table on Corsair, making it clear that with her around, Corsair won't be able to throw his weight around.

In the days that follow, the heroes try to return to what, for them, passes as normal lives. Velocity, now calling himself Blueshift tries to reconcile his relationship with his family and with Linda. But, when Brad's mother declares that Brad has always been worthless, Linda snaps and punches the woman. Brad, or Eddie (as he was originally called) rushes to his mother aid, promising her that he'll take care of her, no matter what. He then proceeds to rob banks at super-speed and sends some of the money to his mother and some to Linda.

Corsair, takes his grandson -in-law to meet with Eaglesmith and the president of Eaglesmith Enterprises to see if there is a way for Todd to regain his company. They are assured that if Eaglesmith can prove his identity then he can resume leadership of his company. Corsair tries to get his reporter friend Les Hylton to investigate Eaglesmith Enterprises. Les refuses the request. Les works for the Little Guy and isn't interested in Eaglesmith's troubles. Corsair requests that Les hire Matt “Bombzone” Force as an assistant. Les tentatively agrees.

Meanwhile, Bombzone meets with Father Mcleskey. The priest promises He then goes hang out with his friend Louis at the local comic shop, An Undisclosed Location. They discuss Corsairs influence on the young hero. Louis thinks that Corsair is bad news, at best unreliable, at worse, at the heart of the conspiracies that plague the city.

Brad returns home and removes his Blitzkrieg outfit from his trunk. He ponders it, his thoughts unknown.

The issues end, with Corsair spending time with his Granddaughter and her family. All seems well, but for a laugh echoing in his mind, and Xanthus's voice claiming, “I've already won.”

The Great Big Robot Battle

Heroes began to emerge in Asylum one night when a cry broke throught the summer silence. Velocity (Velocity/Blueshift), in his guise as Brad Marlin, was taking a walk with his date Lynda Hannon. When suddenly he heard a scream, he excused himself, and changing costumes quickly, he ran to the aid of a homeless man and child who was being abducted by a group of robots, led by a golden skinned man in a red jacket. Velocity engaged the robots and the ensuing sound and light show attracted other heroes, who would make their debut.

In a nearby building, Corsair aka Jack Thunder, was attending a party. He was investigating a gun smuggling ring that was moving guns through Hawaii and the trail had led him to Asylum. He questioned goverment officials at the party, and even threatened one or two, but they merely laughed him away. Hearing the battle nearby, Jack excused himself and entered the fray. Other heroes, arrived, the alien, Alkanar; Power Princess; and the disabled genius, Infinty Drive. A combination of Corsair's sneaky tactics and Velocity's super speed won the battle and the golden man in the red jacket retreated leaving broken robots bodies on the battlefield. Heroes had at last arrived to Asylum.

(There were other heroes involved in the Great Robot Battle, of course. We had more players. But most of them dropped out of the game or proved inconsistant for some reason. Frustrated I was forced to put the game on hiatus for at time. The players of Corsair and Velocity asked me to run a smaller game with their characters. This worked beutifullyand we continued the campaign with the smaller group. The other heroes were retconned out of the battle. Who was and wasn't actually at the battle, has remained nebulous. So far the official roster of the heroes involved includes Corsair, Velocity, Alkanar, Infinity Drive, and Power Princess. There were two other heroes that were also there, but have not been officially named.)

History: The 1600s

Like Freedom City, Asylum was founded by Puritans who were seeking independence from the Church of England by starting anew in the New World. Bloody conclict with the native tribes paved the foundation of thie settlement and a rigid social order was immediately struck.

Since the settlement was inland, it was especially vulnerable to attack from native tribes. The settlements leaders saw fit to ally with Spanish Colonists and by the late 1600s the town saw home to culture that mixed the Spanish Inquisition with Puritan Orthidoxy. This period was marked by withchunts lead my masked Inquisitors that terrorized any who were suspected to have sorcerous powers.

As a results, the city's only paranormally gifted individuals fled the settlement for Freedom City, adding to its potential for superhuman activity while deplenishing the possibility that anything miraculous would everhappen in Asylum.

It is worth noting, however, that some historians believe that the Asylum Inquitors, as the masked witch-hunters were called, may have been metahuman themselves.

Women Scorned; Part 2: Night of Fury

The heroes have just witnessed thousands of teen aged girls turning into vengeful furies! They're only response: action!

Xanthus commands the furies to reek their vengeance as she takes a squad of them into the air and out of the stadium. Eaglesmith moves to rescue the Jones Brothers but he can only carry two at a time. He opts to get get the two youngest brothers to safety. Unfortunately while he was away, the Furies rip the third to shreds.

Corsair follows the Xanthus and her harpies and with Eaglesmith attending to the safety of civilians, Velocity and Bombzone are left to contend with the fury hordes. The battle turns against the duo and Velocity falls, his scar ripped to tatters and a huge lightning shaped gash is carved from his forehead down to his cheek.

Xanthus leads the harpies to the museum across the street. While the harpies wreck the place Corsair confronts Xanthus and handily defeats her only to discover that she was a simulacrum, a decoy to keep him busy.

Corsair returns to the concert in time to see the Furies retreat, and carries Velocity to Freedom City. Corsair doesn't trust the hospitals in Asylum and wants to hand him over to the care of AEGIS. He only needs some stitches but even the best of AEGIS's doctors can't prevent the magical wound from scarring.

While Velocity heals, the other heroes try to figure out Xanthus master plan. They learn that the Xanthus has obtained the two Tears of Juliette, statuettes that carry the curse of the furies! They realize that Xanthus is using the statues to summon the creatures.

Tracking Xanthus to an abandoned clock tower in Old Towne, Corsair, Eaglesmith, and Bombzone prepare to raid the place. They are soon joined by Velocity in a new, darker costume. He now calls himself Blue Shift and seems to have adopted a darker personality as well. He has learned that Xanthus has not only abducted his girlfriend, Linda Hannon, but has also found the his mother, grandparents, and siblings. They are now all being held in the clock tower, as Xanthus prepares to sacrifice them to a dark god.

Inside the Tower Xanthus floats amid enchanted clock gears that protect her. Clockwork Golems and Furies also attend their mistress as she prepares a rite that will make her the fury's goddess!

The four heroes all raid the clock tower together, though Bombzone seems to have difficulty following orders. Bombzone keeps the Furies busy with his explosions. Blue shift begins freeing hostages while Eaglesmith grabs one of the Tears of Juliette. With the set divided, Xanthus cant complete the ritual. She turns herself invisible and attempts to escape. Corsair still senses her with his radar and pursues her. He is nearly intercepted by one of the enchanted gears but surges forward and punches Xanthus so hard she drops her forcefield.

Corsair is poised to take down the vile sorceress with a finishing blow when the clock tower begins to collapse!

Women Scorned #1: Homecoming

(Two new players had joined our gaming group, doubling the amount of players. So I felt like it was time for a fresh start on the campaign. So borrowing from the comics that inspire our campaign, we've started afresh with New Asylum #1 I'll continue to fill in back story with the Asylum Archives. I'll also try to update both a little more regularly.)

Corsair (Jack Thunder), veteran superhero and grandfather was giving a tour of the aircraft hangar that is his home to his grandson, grandson's wife and their two children. His grandson, Taylor Watson, a US Attorney, has recently been relocated into the area from Hawaii. His wife, Sheila, isn't very pleased with the move and is still exhausted from the trip. When Taylor unexpectedly invites his grandfather to dinner, his wife becomes angry and the couple argue. During the argument she begins speaking in rhyme and subsequently transforms into a drooling many horned, many-spiked harpy.

Meanwhile, in his work at a chemical lab, Velocity listens to his co worker Ronnie Purington brag about his hot date for the night. Apparently Ronnie is taking his girl to see the Jones Brothers perform. Ronnie was lucky to get tickets even though the eldest Jones Brothers has caused a great deal of outrage among their young fans. Toby Jones had dumped the girl who won a reality show contest, "Chasing Toby" in favor of a super model.

Ronnie's date shows up, and she turns out to be Velocity's ex-lover and former team mate Xanthus the Seductress. Velocity decides to trail them that evening.

Todd Eaglesmith is skating through the city and is stopped by a bunch of skater fan boys. Since Eaglesmith had been lost in time for two years, most had assumed he was dead. His fans tell him how the city had been overwhelmed by killer plant life. All seemed lost when suddenly all the plants died in a city shattering earthquake. The city is now being rebuilt by a corporation called Purple Majesty , a company that is now also handling law enforcement. Puzzled by this news, Eaglesmith flies home.

Mathew Force, aka Bombzone, returns to his neighborhood and visits his old church Our Lady of Joy. There he talks with Brother who tell Matt about the new Force Ops who protects the neighborhoods that are too poor to warrant attention from Purple Majesty or Team Majestic. Br. Ramos also suggests talking to Father Mcleskey . Bombzone is about to do so when he hears a scream from the street.

Faced with a raging hideous monster, Corsair does what any veteran superhero would do. He punches it! A bit of its thorny hide breaks off against his body armor and the creature reverts to human. His great grandchildren are understandably upset. But Corsair is now more concerned with figuring out why his granddaughter-in- law was transformed. He's about to call his contacts at AEGIS to see if he can find any experts on magic to help him on this mystery. He suddenly finds himself in the home of Damantha Daumier, an agent of AEGIS and a witch. She informs him that the creature was a part of the Sisterhood of Blood, and can be summoned wherever woman are angry. She tells him to seek answers from the “one who has the scar.” Damantha returns Corsair back to his home. He calls Velocity.

Eaglesmith returns home where he's greeted by his wife and kids. Though he has been missing for two years, she was certain he would return home some day. She discovered photos of him from various news stories over the last few decades and was sure that he had become lost in time. She was equally sure that he would find his way home. She never remarried and kept the kids from despair. Though Eaglesmith had lost control of his company while he was away, his wife lived very well from his royalties.

Content that all was well, Eaglesmith calls Zack, the engineer that helped him develop the E-Skate. He has trouble talking on the phone as his girlfriend is complaining about never doing the dishes. The woman breaks into rhyme and transforms into a harpy and attacks Zack. Eaglesmith hops on his board and races to the rescue.

Bombzone runs outside Our Lady Of Joy to find an street side argument has turned into a horror scene as an urban Lothario is attacked by another Harpy. Bombzone blasts the creature and it collapse returning to its human form. The Lunatic emerges from the shadows of the church. Apparently he's been watching the young superhero.

Velocity follows Ronnie and Xanthus to the Jones Brother concert when he receives a call from Corsair. Velocity Abandons his stake out and meets Corsair at his hangar. When Corsair notices that Velocity has a scar on his hand, they both deduce that the sorceress Xanthus has been behind these transformations somehow. Corsair sends Velocity back to his stakeout and goes to find Bombzone.

Eaglesmith saves Zac from a harpy attack, returning his girlfriend to normal.. Searching for something that could have triggered the transformation he hears the sound of the the Jones Brothers concert coming through the window from the stadium nearby. Eaglesmith flies over to the stadium to investigate.

Bombzone talks with Lunatic. Lunatic takes the woman who had turned into a harpy and vanishes. Corsair arrives shortly afterwards and Corsair and Bombzone argue over the inequality evident in the way the city is recovering from disaster.

Inside the stadium, Velocity finds it difficult to remain inconspicuous in among so many teenage girls. Many of the girls are chanting for Toby's head. Excusing herself from her date, Xanthus charms a security guard into let her backstage. Velocity speeds forward, grabs Xanthus and carries her out into the countryside out of the city. Once he's miles away from the city, “Xanthus” dissolves into the security guard. Realizing he was tricked by an illusion, Velocity leaves the security guy on the side of the highway and races back into the city.

Bombzone and Corsair converge with Eaglesmith on the roof of the Museum of Antiquities next to the Stadium. Corsair shares his suspicions with the other two, and they all decide to infiltrate the Stadium. Corsair's silver tongue and Eaglesmith's celebrity get them through the door, though the concert is sold out. They slip inside just in time to see hundreds of angry teen-aged girls turn into vengeful harpies!

Getting Around in Asylum

Asylum doesn't have nearly as sophisticated transportation network Freedom City does. The limited buses that move through the city mostly service the downtownarea. Most Asylum residents are expected to have cars… There are no subways in Asylum, but trains take passengers between Asylum and Freedom regularly. The cabs are limited to the the blue "Blue Boy" Cab Company. Owner Gary Wright accepts no competition, and is suspected of using illegal means to keep other cabs off the street.

Most residents rely on car services to get around if they don't have cars of their own, especially in multi ethnic Braunstein.

There are two airports in Asylum. The Richard M. Nixon Memorial Airport which is often chosen as a cheaper alternative when getting to Freedom City by air. Many tourists opt for a flight into RMN and take a shuttle from ACX, the Asylum to Freedom City shuttle service. A smaller private airstrip the Hanley Airport services the wealthy owners of private plains. Money talks in Asylum and Hanley is better maintained than the RMN which is suffering from budget cutbacks, reducing both service and security.

In Asylum's affluent Downtown and Second Center , the streets are well maintained. Poorer neigborhoods suffer from neglect and wear and tear. The buses are state of the art and modern, if only because they're favored by the professional lawyers, doctor, etc who try to avoid periodic grid lock that still often happens during the holidays when everyone is rushing to get out of town.

Noone bikes in Asylum. That's just asking for trouble. Driving in Asylum is said to be a sport, somewhere between Jousting and Playing Chicken. Poor layout, ill planned traffic lights, and a shortage of road ettiquette lead to frequent traffic jams, accidents, and roadside fistfights.

Hold on... this is going to be a wild ride...

It all began in Asylum….

Asylum has never had heroes… Whereas Freedom City has had costumed heroes for years. Asylum residents were happy to have their peace and quiet. Costumed vigilanteism was banned withing city limits since the 1980s. The law has never been challenged as no super heroes have ever operated within its limits.

Only now has that begun to change.

For months black vans had been cruising the streets of Asylum, abducting the homeless, the lost, and the unloved. As the city slept, the streets have been swept clean of its vagabonds, beggars, and waifs. Eventually one man rose up to defend these friendless masses… Covered in bandages and clad in only a straight jacket and tights, the Lunatic struck at the men in the black vans, beginning a shadow war unknown to the rest of the Asylum.

The Lunatic tore through Asylum's Labyrinthine underworld, and raided laboratories in its Lab District. His crusade eventually became a part of local legend. And though his expoits became common knowledge, the Lunatic kept to the shadows.

No superheroes dared to act publically in Asylum, until Corsair and Velocity made their debuts.